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The sea-battle of
Strindfjorden
Glimpse of history by Per Øverland. On the fjord outside Lade stood one of the most important naval battles in King Sverre‘s time. It was towards the end of his life, but he had ruled for a long time. He was hailed as king in 1177.
His beginning as king was marked by the struggle against King Magnus Erlingsson and his father, Erling Skakke. Old Trondheim was one of the country’s most important centers of power. The old county of Strind was located around the town of Nidaros and across the fjord and included Leksvik. The fjord between Strinda and Leksvik is called Strindfjorden. The sagas write about “the battle of Strindfjorden”. The opposing sided that stood against each other were the Birkebeiners and the Baglers.
Or if we mention the leaders on each side: King Sverre against Oslo Bishop Nikolaus Arnesson. After King Sverre had defeated Erling Skakke in 1179 and then his son King Magnus Erlingsson in 1184, it was relatively peaceful in the kingdom for a number of years. In 1196, Bishop Nikolaus took up the fight against Sverre. The family heritage was important at this time. Nikolaus had the right heritage, motive and education to take up the fight against the cursed king in Norway. He was the half-brother of King Inge Krokrygg and Sverre’s queen, the Swedish king’s daughter Margrethe, Erik the saint’s daughter, was the third cousin of Nikolaus.
To understand the political constellations in Norway at this time, it is necessary to roll up the large backdrop.
The power struggle in the Norwegian Empire must be viewed both in a domestic and an international light. It is easiest to see the lines nationally. In 1153, the Norwegian Church Province was founded as one of the largest in Northern Europe in extent.
After the Church of Norway had first been under the Archbishop of Bremen and later under the Archbishop of Lund in Scania, the new Archdiocese of Nidaros in addition to the Norwegian mainland Iceland, Greenland and the archipelagos of the North Sea such as the Faroe Islands, Orkney, Shetland and Suderøyen Man. Norway had for several generations had rifts between different royal sons. When the archdiocese was established, there were three kings, namely the sons of Harald Inge Krokrygg, Sigurd Munn and Øystein. In reality, there was a civil war in Iandet despite occasional cooperation.
The old ideology implied that all royal sons could demand royal names in the parliament. The church would put an end to this. It wanted the eldest son to be the next king. It wanted an orderly and predictable change of king. Erling Jarl’s son Magnus was crowned Norwegian king. Already five years old, he was elected king by Inge Krokrygg. He was born into marriage, but the problem is that his father was not king. On the other hand, his mother was the king’s daughter. Among other things, to remedy this shortcoming, King Magnus was crowned king of Bergen by Archbishop Øystein in 1163. Thus, the church became a strong partner for King Magnus. Against all odds, the king’s son Sverre from the Faroe Islands, King Sigurd’s illegitimate son, won the duel with King Magnus after many years of skirmishes and power struggles.
Piece of the Strindfjord taken from Leksvik towards Tautra. Photo: Bjørn Lien.
Internationally, we were in the middle of the battle between emperor and pope for influence on international development. As God’s representative on Earth, the Pope demanded principled supremacy over worldly rulers. Likewise nationally where the archbishop who wanted a certain supremacy over the king.
King Sverre, who had a priestly education, was well aware of the struggles in Europe. He knew that, for example, the theologians at the University of Bologna were against the pope’s sovereignty. We see this from Sverre’s speech to the bishops. The pope became involved with Sverre, who was repeatedly banned. Thus, the church in Norway stood against King Sverre. Archbishop Øystein reconciled with Sverre, but the pope continued the fight.
After Earl Erling (Skakke) and later King Magnus were defeated, the pope did not forget King Sverre, the cursed one. This is the reason why the Bishop of Oslo, who himself had been approved as the Norwegian bishop by King Sverre, took up the fight against him in 1196. He was supported by King Magnus’ old supporters. Several of the country’s leading families supported the baglers. The battle between the king’s men the birkebeiners and the new bishop party the baglers raged the last six years when Sverre ruled.
The actual battle of Strindfjorden took place on Friday 18 June 1199. The Baglers had sailed north from Bergen with a large fleet to conquer Nidaros, but when they found out that Sverre was in town, they gave up. They went further north to Hålogaland to get support from Bjarkøy, which they got. In the late winter of Nidaros, Sverre had built eight large ships with high sides. They were ready for Easter.
At the beginning of June, the bagler boat returned to Trondhjemsfjorden and docked at the Munkholmen. (A litte island outside Trondheim harbour) The town was too fortified so the baglers went further inland into the fjord to collect supplies. On the morning of June 18, the birkebeiner fleet left the city and sailed inland. The battle at Tautra began at noon and raged for six hours. King Sverre led the battle from his ship «Hugro». (which means peace of mind.) He was a brave man who did not spare himself. During the whole battle he shot with a crossbow. None the least he spoke to his men and encouraged them when ever he could.
His speeches were fiery. Professor Fredrik Paasche says in his book about King Sverre: “The king’s leadership received as usual a good part of the honour for the victory”
At night, King Sverre and his men could row into town after clearing six of the baglers’ ships. Hallvard of Saastad from Stange, one of the baglers’ most capable chiefs, was among the fallen.
Illustration from 1902 about the Battle of Stringfjorden.
Bishop Nicholas was not a brave man. He was the strategist, but kept his ship on the edge of battle. When he saw which way it was going, he fled across the fjord with his closest men such as Reidar Sendemann and Håkon Jarlssønn. He also spoke for encouraging in his army.
Fredrik Paasche who was a Norwegian educator, author and literary historian refers to a speech that the Bishop was said to have given before the battle: “Sverre the priest now has no more of Norway than a little cape and it could be fittingly much if he advised for it of Øren, which is outside the palisade, and was hung there in a gallows . I do not think we baglers should care much about where he goes with his seabucks (ships), which he has made here in the city. ” The irony did not help. Sverre remained king until he died a natural death in 1202 in Bergen
Viking laws
1 BE BRAVE AND AGGRESSIVE
BE DIRECT.
GRAB ALL OPPORTUNITIES.
USE VARYING METHODS OF ATTACK.
BE VERSATILE AND AGILE.
ATTACK ONE TARGET AT A TIME .
DO NOT PLAN EVERYTHING IN DETAIL.
USE TOP OUALITY WEAPONS.
2 BE PREPARED
KEEP WEAPONS IN GOOD CONDITION.
KEEP IN SHAPE.
FIND GOOD BATTLE COMRADES.
AGREE ON IMPORTANT POINTS.
CHOOSE ONE CHIEF.
3 BE A GOOD MERCHANT
FIND OUT WHAT THE MARKET NEEDS.
DO NOT PROMISE WHAT YOU CANNOT KEEP.
DO NOT DEMAND OVERPAYMENT.
ARRANGE THINGS SO THAT YOU CAN RETURN.
4 KEEP THE CAMP IN ORDER
KEEP THINGS TIDY AND ORGANIZED.
ARRANGE ENJOYABLE ACTIVITIES WHICH STRENGHTEN THE GROUP.
MAKE SURE EVERYBODY DOES USEFUL WORK.
CONSULT ALL MEMBERS OF THE GROUP FOR ADVICE.
